Study backs Mildura dump

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VICTORIA'S controversial toxic waste dump has moved a step
closer to reality with the State Government release of its
environment effects study showing the dump would have no
significant impact on the Mildura area.

The proposal, under consideration for 18 months, has drawn
impassioned opposition from locals, who are concerned the dump
could damage the environment and ruin the economy and image of
Victoria's "clean, green food bowl".

Major Projects Minister John Lenders said yesterday the study
indicated the proposed site at Nowingi, 50 kilometres south of
Mildura, was safe. "If I thought it was unsafe to proceed, we would
not be proceeding to the (next) stage," he said.

The statement will be available for viewing for six weeks,
followed by public hearings before an independent panel. It will
make a recommendation to the Government  not expected until
well into next year.

Mr Lenders said EPA Victoria and the Federal Government also had
to approve the plan

But Opposition Leader Robert Doyle said the Government had
already made up its mind.

"It's all over Red Rover; the fix was in from the start," he
said.

Mr Doyle said the Opposition would not build the dump if it was
elected next year. Instead, it would consider improving existing
facilities at Lyndhurst or finding a site closer to Melbourne.

Russell Savage, the independent MP for Mildura, said the
Government should abandon the proposal unless it could guarantee
there would be no adverse effects.

Peter Crisp, a local citrus grower and chairman of opposition
group Save the Food Bowl Alliance, said the community would keep
fighting the plans.

The study acknowledged there might be some local, possibly
short-term, impacts from building the waste "containment facility".
These included negative perceptions reducing wellbeing and property
values.

But overall, it found the dump could operate "in an
environmentally, socially and economically acceptable manner". It
said there was a negligible risk of food contamination from the
dump.

Mr Lenders said he understood the community's concerns. "It is a
very difficult issue for a local community, particularly when it is
being portrayed as a toxic dump," he said.